


The Windswept Plain

by Monetarily Dizzy (SandOfTheMountain)



Series: Here and Then [7]
Category: Original Work
Genre: (sort of?), :(, A cat dies, Adaline's my love letter to Stephen King's Gunslinger, Author loves repetition, Backstory, Fantasy, Gen, Heist, Lore - Freeform, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 14:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11671434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandOfTheMountain/pseuds/Monetarily%20Dizzy
Summary: A woman has stolen a priceless treasure from a man. The Alchemist bears witness to all that transpires in the early hours of the sixth day of her flight.





	The Windswept Plain

     THE WOMAN fled across the windswept plain, a cat at her heels and a raven on her shoulder. She knew her PURSUER was close, closer than she could bear; he could not be seen, only felt. Like the light of a supernova, the crush of an avalanche, his presence flared behind her in harsh silver waves. He could not be allowed to catch her- to be caught was to die. Her GUNS sat low on her hips, her AMULET high against her throat. On her neck was the still stinging MARK of his scorn. Clutched in the beak of the raven was a globe; a VESSEL so fragile even the wind might break it and so powerful even the angels shied away from its glow. The cat was weary, and the woman knew it would not finish the journey. The cat was red, and it dutifully ran behind the woman like fire across the windswept plain. The raven was young, and the woman knew it may be the only chance she had. The raven seemed purple under the pink-tinged sky, and looked into the woman’s eye with a gaze far beyond any simple beast. The woman and raven looked to the moon, and prayed that not all would be lost.

 

     From the other side of the windswept plain, THE MAN hunted his prey. To say he was angry would be to call the ocean a raindrop. This woman, this harlot, this conniving bitch had the audacity to enter his life, enter his bed, then try to slip away with the greatest treasure on the mortal plane. He knew the woman was tiring in her race across the windswept plain, already he could see the cat dying at her heels. She had slipped from his rooms five days ago, and even in that little time he had felt the EARTH begin to murmur its discontent. The hunt would soon be over. Grass wilted in his fiery path as he marched towards his target. He could feel the hum of the earth as he moved, and he signaled to his associates to converge on this windswept plain. She may be weary, but he knew firsthand her power. He knew he had to be careful, the woman was fiendishly clever and would never be taken alive. That was alright. When given the option, he always chose to obliterate.

 

     From his home on the windswept plain, THE ALCHEMIST watched the two forces pass along the land before him. His NEAR-ALKAHEST swirled around him, and he was careful not to let it touch the ground or walls of his home. Seemingly uncaring about the devastating power lazily drifting around him, the Alchemist kept his eyes to the horizon, where the small black dot was chased by the silver cloud. The earth groaned beneath his feet, and above him the sky was weeping in clouds. The conflict was inevitable. The fallout would be devastating. The Alchemist was ever so close to the two figures, even if they were unaware of him. The Alchemist took careful notes of everything that transpired on this windswept plain. This is what he recorded:

* * *

 

     The woman had ducked behind the only tree for miles, waiting. She knew at this point trying to outrun the man would be futile. Six yards from the tree was a river too wide and deep to cross. There was nothing else within sight. The only way out was to fight. She took a breath, calming her heart and mind. A delicate finger touched the cool blue stone around her neck. Then he was there like a storm, his light burning her eyes. She pulled and fired her guns in a fluid motion, the shots seemed to linger in the air as she poured magic down the barrel and into the silver maelstrom. Runes flashed, the shots fizzling into air. The man threw down his hood and stood tall as the light abruptly vanished.

     “Adaline, what have you done?” The man’s voice is said to have sounded like thunder across that windswept plain. It was no real question. The man’s cold eyes looked deep into Adaline. She shivered, for she had never liked his gaze.

     “I have liberated the SOUL from your clutches. I have liberated myself as well.” She moved before the last syllable had hit his ears. If the man was thunder, booming and all encompassing, Adaline was lightning- precise and quick.

 

     Adaline fired her guns six times before the man knocked her to the ground. Sigils danced along his hand like fireflies, yet Adaline knew no fear. Her finger traced a rune in the ground, with a spark of energy she warped behind the man.

     “Adaline, why do you run from me? Is it because you know you are a thief and a liar, and you fear my vengeance?” The man turned, lazily walking towards the kneeling woman. “Or is it because you are weak?” A rune flared in the man’s hand as the cat was burned to a husk. He strode to the cat, inspecting the cooling ashes.

     “You’re an ass, Petrikov. And an idiot too.” Adaline stood, ensuring her scarf was in place. Her hands fell to her side, dangerously close to her guns. On each side a pillar of light formed, two figures in pink robes stepping out. Adaline calmly let her guns be taken from her, and she barely blinked as Petrikov took her necklace. The woman stood straight, her hands neatly folded behind her back as she stared into her captor’s eyes.

     Petrikov looked at Adaline with a clinically detached gaze. Adaline knew he was forcing it. “Where is it?” The woman shrugged, only allowing herself the ghost of a smile. She knew her raven was long gone with its prize. The man’s composure slipped, and once again Adaline was sent to the ground by his hand. “You have robbed me! You have robbed the world!” Sigils flared behind him, fanning above his head as a crown. “I have caught you! Beaten you! I hold your amulet in my hand; your guns are in the hands of your captors! I have CURSED you, your bloodline, and those who may follow you! I have named you THIEVING ADALINE DeMENCHEN, robber of the world, enemy of life! I have destroyed you in every way save killing you, yet still- impossibly- you have won. You still beat me.”

     “I still won,” Adaline murmured, running her fingertip across her now bleeding palm. With another drag of her fingernail she completed the rune on her hand, a final breathless laugh escaping her as her body exploded into energy. The two guards in pink had no time to defend before the blast sent them flying into the river. They were dead before they hit the water. Petrikov had a shield in time, face impassive despite the events that had just transpired. He was unsurprised; Adaline would never have allowed herself to waste away as a prisoner. Petrikov stalked to the river, walking around the small crater that served as Adaline’s last mark upon the world. He lifted the bodies from the water, carefully taking the belts from their corpses. With a growl he noticed Adaline’s golden pistols were gone from their hands, lost to the river undoubtedly. Petrikov stood, shaking his head. The hunt had soured. A rune was sketched upon the ground and a portal opened. With a flash Petrikov was gone.

* * *

 

 

      The Alchemist was witness to all that transpired. The moment Adaline died, the raven had cawed in distress exactly once before unraveling out of existence. The orb had dropped from a now non-existent beak towards the ground, only to be CAUGHT by the Alchemist. He inspected the globe with a cynical eye before sitting it before him. With a wave of his hand his near-alkahest drifted towards the orb before penetrating it, SPLITTING it into three. The earth SCREAMED below the feet of the Alchemist, but he payed it no mind. Of the three new parts, one he wrapped in a cloth of woven gold. The two others were brought to his lips and kissed before being SENT to the world proper. The Alchemist turned on his heel, whistling a few notes as his house faded into view. He crossed the threshold and the house blurred, then began to fade back out of view. Once the whistle and home had fully disappeared, all was quiet on the windswept plain.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually am pretty happy with this one! Keep an eye on Adaline, this isn't the last time you'll hear of her.


End file.
